Combined steam and compressed-air locomotive.



1 No. 724,183. PATEN'TED MAR. 31, 1903;-

E. HILL.

COMBINED STEAM AND COMPRESSED AIR LOCOMOTIVE.

APPLICATION PILED'APB. 1, 1902.

N0 MODEL; 2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

u: Nmmvs PETERS ca. PHOTCLLH'ND wmumo'lon. n. c.

No; 724,183. v PATENTED MAR:31,-1903.;

E. HILL. COMBINED STEAM AND GOMPRESSEDAAI'R LOGOMOTIVE,

APPLICATION rILnn APR. 1, 1902. no MODEL. 2 sum-3411mm 2.

m: NORRIS wzrzns cu, Puo'murnm WASHINGTON. D, c

' that the two locomotives 5o motive is being used as such it will be'in no EBENEZER HILL, or SOUTH NORWALK, oonnnorionr.

COMBINED STEAM AND COMPRESSED-MR LOCOMOTIVE.

of Letters Patent No. 724,183, dated March 100,908. (No model.)

SPECIFICATION forming part 31, 1903.

Application filed April 1, 1902. suture.

and increase its weight; but whether the steam-locomotive and the compressed-air locomotive are formed independently of one another or not the steam-locomotive will be provided with some means for entirely relieving the draft of its fire from its exhaust, so that the latter will not have its usual effect of forcing the fire, which will be held in readi- To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EBENEZER South Norwalk, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Combined Steam and Compressed- Air Locomotive; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the figures of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in

Figure 1, a broken view,in side elevation, showing asteal locomotive anda compressedair locomotive coupled together for the conversion of the steam-locomotive into a compressed-air locomotive; Fig. 2, an enlarged broken view of the steam-locomotive, showing its provision with a three-way cock for relieving the draft of its fire from the suction of its exhaust.

My invention relates to an improvement in steam-locomotives whereby they maybe con verted into compressed air locomotives for temporary use as such.

With these ends in view my invention consists in a steam-locomotive having a compressed-air connection and means for relieving the draft of its fire from the suction of its exhaust.

My invention further consists in certaindetails of construction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

In carrying out my invention as herein shown I employ a steam-locomotive of ordinary construction and a compressed-air locomotive, also of ordinary construction, the two locomotives being self-contained and indeendent organizations and adapted to be operated and used entirely independently of each other As herein shown, llocate a three-way cock 2 of ordinary-construction directly below the exhaust-nozzle 3,-which leads into the smokestack 4:. The exhaust-pipe 3 leadsinto the said cock 2, from which a supplemental stack or exhaust-pipe 5 leads laterally and then upwardly into the air. When the locomotive is being used for ordinary running,the said cock 2 is set so that the exhaust-steam will pass upward through the pipe 3, cock 2, nozzle 3, and smoke-stack 4 and create the suction required for forcing the fire, the gases and smoke of which pass out through the smokestack; but when the locomotive is being used as a compressed-air locomotive the cock 2 is set so that the exhaust will be diverted from the exhaust-nozzle 3 and the smoke-stack 4 and caused to escape through the supplemental stack or exhaust-pipe 5, whereby the draft of the fire is entirely relieved of the suction of the exhaust, so thatthe fire instead of being forced is not excited, but left to burn quietly and held for future use in running the locomotive as a steam-locomotive. To adapt the steam-locomotive to be used as a compressed-air locomotive, I further provide it, as shown, with a compressedair connection in the form of a pipe 6, havinto the boiler 7 of,the locomotive and furnished with a shut-off valveS. The forward end of this pipe extends to the front of the boiler and is furnished with one member 9 of a coupling, the other member connected with a horizontally-arranged com- I pressed-air pipe 11, furnished with a shut-off valve 12, and is connected by flexible pipes 13 with a low-pressure reservoir 14, connected by an automatic pressure-reducer valve 15 with a shut-off valve 16, connected with a pipe 17, which is connected with the highpressure pressed-air locomotive,

as well ,as in combination, at which time the compressed-airlocomotive virtually becomes a part of the steam-locomotive. If desired, 1 may combine the compressed-air locomotive with the steam-locomotive in one organization, though I prefer shall be independent of each other, so that when the steam-locoway hampered by a compressed-air appaof which it is suffiratns, which would add to its complication ing its rear end arranged to open directly.

tubular reservoirs 18 of the commess to be forced, burning but very slowly.

to the production of any more steam. What I particularly wish to emphasize is that by means of my invention the steam-locomotive is converted into a compressed-air locomotive almost instantaneously and Without putting out or disturbing the tire in the steam-locomotive, in which the fire is held for future use. During the time that the steam-locomotive is used as a compressed-air locomotive the steam-locomotive produces little or no smoke, because its fire being relieved from the forcing action of the suction of the exhaust burns with little or no vigor. Furthermore, as the steam it makes no fog. The compressed air when introduced into the steam-locomotive at once takes up heat and vapor from the boiler and is therefore greatly increased in potency. The small amount of vapor exhausted with the air is at once condensed by the extreme cold of the airexhaust. The occicnt for the purposes of my present description to say that it has aself-contained organization capable of being run by the use of its own compressed air. The compressed-air pipe 11, together with its shut-oft valve 12, is suspended, by means of a chain 19, from a beam 20,connected with the framework of the compressed-air locomotive. This chain supports the pipe 11 and valve 12 when the compressed-air locomotive is not connected with the steam-locomotive. 'When the two locomotives are connected together, the flexible pipes 13 and the chain 19 accommodate the oscillation of the two locomotives as they pass over uneven tracks, curves, switches, (be.

With regard to the compressed-air locomotive it may he said that its tubular reservoirs 18, in which its compressed air is restored, are small and heavy enough to stand excessive air-pressure and numerous enough to have an aggregate capacity far beyond that required for the running of the compressed-air casion for running the steam-locomotive a locomotive from place to place and with no compressed-air locomotive being over, the load beyond that of its own weight. This excompressed-air locomotive proper is disconcess of compressed-air capacity is designed nected from it and the three-way cock. 2 set to be used in the steam-locomotive and to so as to again send the exhaust th 'ough the develop great power therein for a short run smoke-stack, whereby the fire is immediately thereof. excited again and the production of steam re- Ordinarily thesteam-locomotive will be run as such without any reference to its capacity to be run as a compressed-air locomotive. \Vhen, however, it is desired to temporarily convert it into a compressed-air locomotive, the two locomotives are coupled together by means of the coupling members 9 and 10, the three-way cock 2 is turned so as to stop the forcing of the fire of the steam-locomotive by the exhaust thereof, and the valves 8 and 12 are operated so as to permit compressed air from the compressed-air locomotive to flow directly into the boiler 7 of the steam-locomotive, the pressure of this compressed air having been red uced-say from one thousand pounds to one hundred and fifty pounds or two hundred pounds-bv the automatic pressure-reducer thus introduced into the boiler of the steamsu med. The interval required for converting, so to speak, the steam-locomotive from a compressed-air locomotive back lnto a steam-locomotive is very short, for it is to be remembered that the fire in the steam-locomotive has been held virtually unimpaired.

yimprovement enables steam-locomotives to be run through tunnels as compressed-air locomotives without drawing their fire and without the production of the smoke and fog which render the use tunnels so dangerous and objectionable. In

as described the comusing my invention pressed-air locomotive fully charged would be run onto the track and coupled with the steam-locom otive shortly before the entrance of the tunnel was reached. In the interval before reaching the tunnel the connections between would be made, of reaching the tunnel the compressed air would be introduced into the steam-locomotive, which would then be run through the tunnel as a compressed-air locomotive and without the production of smoke or fog. The steam-locomotive would also be run out of the tunnel as a compressedair locomotive and then reconverted into a steam-locomotive by the disconnection from the air through the supplemental stack or exhaust-pipe 5. The production of steam in the steam-locomotive is entirely arrested, or nearly so, as soon as the same is connected with the compressed-air locomotive, and compressed air therefrom begins to occupy the it of the compressed-air locomotive and the boiler of the steam locomotive and flow turning back of the exhaust into the smokethrough the steamchannels thereof and exstack. Enough air would always be reserved haust without forcing the in the compressed-air locomotive to run the same about the yard and as required for consteam-locomotive.

It is apparent that in carrying out my invention many changes from the construction herein shown and described may be made. I would therefore have it understood that I do steam, and, second, because the compressed air being introduced into the boiler at somewhat-higher pressure than the steam therein had been at the time the two engines were connected blankets the boiler, as it were, as

IIO

thereof, of a compressed-air reservoir, a'compressed-air pipe leading from the said reservoir to the said boiler, an exhaust-pipe, and a three-way cock located therein and arrange to deflect the exhaust from the draft of the fire.

4:. The combination with a steam-locomotive having a boiler, a steam-cylinder, and means for distributing the steam therein; of an independently-organized compressed-air locomotive, a compressed-air pipe leading from the compressed-air locomotive to the said boiler from which it is led to the said cylinder of the steam-locomotive, and means for diverting the exhaust of the steam-locomotive from the draft of the fire thereof when the steam-locomotive is coupled with the in-' dependently-organized compressed-air locomotive.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

not limit myself to such construction, but hold myself at liberty to make such departures therefrom as fairly fall within the spirit and scope of my invention. 5 Having fully described my invention, what 1 I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. In a combined steam and compressed-air locomotive, the combination with a boiler, of a steam-cylinder,nieans for distributing steam in the said cylinder, a compressed-air reserg voir, means for supplying the said boiler and hence the said cylinder, with compressedair, and means for relieving the tire of the locomotive from the suction of its exhaust.

2. In a combined steam and compressed-air locomotive, the combination with a boiler, of a steam-cylinder,means for distributin gsteam in the said cylinder, a compressed-air reservoir,means for conveying compressed air from the said reservoir to the said boiler from which it is led to the said cylinder, an exhaust-pipe, and means located therein for diverting the exhaust from the draft of the fire-box so that EBENEZER I-IILL.

the fire will not be excited by the exhaust. Witnesses:

' 3. In a combined steam and compressed-air JACOB M. LAYTON, locomotive, the combination with the boiler WILFRED BODWELL. 

